Variations in Radiotherapy Delivery in England — Evidence from the National Radiotherapy Dataset

Abstract Aims, Materials and method Data in the national radiotherapy dataset for England for 2009–2011 is based upon downloads of activity from every linear accelerator in the country through its oncology management system linked to the local patient administration system to give a full overview of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical oncology (Royal College of Radiologists (Great Britain)) 2013-09, Vol.25 (9), p.531-537
Main Authors: Hoskin, P.J, Forbes, H, Ball, C, Riley, D, Cooper, T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Deprivation
England
Hematology, Oncology and Palliative Medicine
Humans
linear accelerator
Neoplasms - radiotherapy
Particle Accelerators
population
Radiology
radiotherapy
Radiotherapy - instrumentation
Radiotherapy - methods
regions
Treatment Outcome
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Summary:Abstract Aims, Materials and method Data in the national radiotherapy dataset for England for 2009–2011 is based upon downloads of activity from every linear accelerator in the country through its oncology management system linked to the local patient administration system to give a full overview of each patient episode. Results An analysis of this dataset shows that there is still a considerable variation in radiotherapy activity across the country, with a two-fold variation between the most and least active networks. Lower activity is seen in London and the southeast compared with the rest of the country, but when the data are split between the north and south of the country, no such variation is seen. Activity is higher in smaller centres and non-teaching centres. About half of all treatment is palliative and this proportion does not vary with geography, although there is considerable variation between individual centres in the proportion of radical radiotherapy given. There is a trend towards less use of radiotherapy, both radical and palliative, in the more deprived population groups, although no change in the relative use of palliative and radical treatment. Conclusion It is important to emphasise that these data currently reflect activity patterns only and do not reflect quality of care or treatment outcomes, which will be achieved by linkage with cancer registry data in the future.
ISSN:0936-6555
1433-2981
DOI:10.1016/j.clon.2013.04.006